Before the Polaroid Co. introduced the Model 95 camera in November 1948, photography was a slow process. Photographers who didn’t have access to a dark room had to send their exposed films away for processing and wouldn’t see their photographs for at least a week. In Instant: The Story of Polaroid, New York magazine’s Christopher Bonanos discusses Polaroid’s visionary founder, Edwin Land; the company’s amazing string of inventions; and its gradual decline. The interview lasts around 30 minutes.

The Afterword, which appears in the Slate daily podcast feed every other Thursday, features interviews with the authors of new nonfiction books. The next guest will be Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court. That podcast will be available on Oct. 25.